


College Men

by aurilly



Category: Heroes (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2009-07-29
Updated: 2009-08-07
Packaged: 2017-10-03 01:33:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurilly/pseuds/aurilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter and Gabriel (twinverse) start college. It's a big adjustment for Gabriel, in a lot of ways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story assumes a lot of plot details from perdiccas's brilliant [My Brother's Keeper](http://community.livejournal.com/heroes_exchange/28575.html), such as that Peter and Gabriel stepped up their relationship the night they graduated from high school, that Peter went away for the entire summer---their first separation ever, that Gabriel was worried about what that meant for them, and that Peter was always the most loved, both by outside people and the family, etc.

Gabriel's room was the car's first stop after registering and picking up the keys at the housing office. Angela held the parking spot while Arthur and their three sons unloaded all the bags and boxes marked 'Gabriel' and lugged them to the double room he'd been assigned. It was small, but in one of the school's oldest dorms. There were faux-Gothic touches and new furniture. It was perfect, everything anyone could have hoped for---anyone except Gabriel, that is.

"Sweet!" said Peter, whistling with approval as he hauled the last of the bags into the room. "I hope mine is half as good."

"It'll be better," said Nathan, resting his hands on his knees and catching his breath from the three flights of stairs. "You've got a quad, Pete. There'll be a common room and everything. More than just this one room."

"And I can come visit?" Gabriel added hopefully. Peter grinned at him and gave him a little kick.

"Obviously. Like, every minute. And I'll come visit you. We can have sleepovers, even."

Gabriel felt a little thrill, knowing what Peter meant even if no one else did.

However, that said, Peter continued, "I hear people usually have dinner with their roommates on the first night, but come by tomorrow for lunch, ok?" Peter held his brother closely, too closely, like he always did. Gabriel ached, feeling certain that something was breaking right now, something that Peter was in denial about. But everyone was still around and Gabriel didn't want to push the subject, so he just hugged his twin for as long as possible.

Arthur cleared his throat. "Time to get going. We've got to get you to your room, Peter. We don't have all day. Well, good luck, son," Arthur said, patting Gabriel distantly on the shoulder.

"What about Gabe's stuff? He can't set this up all by himself," Nathan said with concern.

"I'm sure he can handle it. He's a Princeton man now. It's time to grow up," Arthur said coldly. "Come on, Peter, your mother is waiting and she's eager to get to your room."

Peter grimaced at the blatant favoritism that he'd always hated being on the winning end of, and shot a sympathetic look Gabriel's way. But Gabriel was more than used to it by now, and simply shrugged it off.

However, Nathan decided, "Hey, I'm going to stick around here for awhile. If you guys are already gone by the time I get to Peter's room, I'll just take the train back to the city."

Arthur shrugged. "Whatever you want." And he and Peter left.

"Hey, thanks for that," Gabriel said.

Nathan gave him a noogie, like he always did when he didn't want to 'get mushy', as he called it. "What else are big brothers for?"

And so, it was Nathan who helped Gabriel unpack. It was Nathan who rearranged the sparse desk furniture into something more workable, and it was Nathan who went with him to the university store to buy supplies and decorations, helping to pick out things that were 'cool' while still being 'Gabriel.' Much as he knew he should be grateful to Nathan for being there for him when everyone else had left, Gabriel still irrationally resented his older brother, because this was all his fault to begin with.

If Nathan hadn't been so vocally outraged when he found out that Peter and Gabriel were thinking of rooming together as a matter of course, they'd all be together now. But Nathan had convinced Peter that college was all about making new friends, and that the twins should "leverage their dual assets" by making themselves the center of two groups. Peter had come around to the idea back in the spring, telling Gabriel that Nathan was right. They'd always be everything to each other anyway, so they might as well live freshman year to the fullest and then room together for the remaining three years. It made sense, but Gabriel had been looking forward to finally escaping their repressive family life and being with Peter---just them, without anyone watching, just like he thought they'd both always wanted.

So, it was with a grudging smile that he said farewell to Nathan later that day at the train station. He knew Nathan meant well. If Nathan hadn't cared, Gabriel would have been left completely alone and traumatized.

Nathan gave his parting words of wisdom. "So, work just hard enough to get by, build up your alcohol tolerance, and have a great time. Also, mom and dad don't know, but that box we didn't unpack under your desk is full of vodka and gin and rum. Access to booze is key to popularity. When you run out, just let me know. There's a whole lot of condoms in there, too. I want you to get lucky, but I don't want you knocking anyone up. Is that understood?"

"Um, sure. Thank you." Gabriel wasn't really interested in hard alcohol, but he appreciated the gesture.

"Good. Oh, and here you go," Nathan said as the train pulled into the station. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. It was full of hundred dollar bills.

"What's this for?" Gabriel asked.

Nathan winked. "Just a little bit of the signing bonus I got when I started at the firm last month. Figured I'd slip it past mom and dad and give it to you guys. Peter got his yesterday. Girls like presents, Gabe. They like to be taken out to nice places and bought nice things. If you want to score, this'll come in handy."

Gabriel tried not to seem ungrateful, but he could hardly tell Nathan that he wasn't interested in scoring with girls, in any way. All he wanted was Peter. Still, Nathan _was_ being very kind, in his own skeevy way. "Thanks, Nathan. I'll… I'll keep that in mind."

"And if you ever want to _really_ impress, you have the keys to my apartment. Just give me a ring and it's all yours whenever you need it."

"What about you?"

Nathan laughed. "I'm sure I'll be able to find somewhere else to sleep on short notice." And he winked disgustingly, his eyes drifting off to the side to ogle a girl who was also saying goodbye to her family. "Man, to be your age again… don't forget to live the dream for me, Gabe, ok?" And with a bear hug, Nathan was gone and Gabriel was all alone again.

He trudged back to his room, wondering what Peter was doing right then. He wanted desperately to go visit, but he knew he should lay off and let Peter bond with his roommates like a normal person. It was just one night. They'd be together again the next day. In the meantime, Gabriel continued to futz around his room, leaving the door open like Nathan had suggested and hoping someone would stop by to talk to him. No one did.

At dinner time, so he went to his residential college's dining hall, and sat down with a girl he vaguely recognized as having gone to the sister school of his boy's school in New York. She looked at him in annoyance, and he knew that his presence was bringing down the coolness factor she was trying to build for herself. After a few bites of overcooked carrots and dry pasta, and a couple of inane conversations that consisted mostly of "where are you from?" and "what did you do over the summer?" he left. Gabriel wondered where his roommate was, and hoped that maybe he wasn't meant to have one at all. He fell asleep that night fantasizing about having the space all to himself. He and Peter would have all the privacy they wanted, while still allowing them to make other friends. It was the best of both worlds.

At lunchtime the next day, Gabriel followed his map across campus to where Peter lived. He hated that it was as far away from his dorm as one could get. He walked down the long hallway until he found Peter's door, and knocked.

"Yeah, it's open!" a loud and obnoxious voice called.

Gabriel crept in, hesitantly. The common room was enormous, and full of furniture that the other guys must have brought. There was even a satellite dish perched precariously out the window. It was unmistakably going to be a party room. Peter and three huge jocks were sitting on the couch playing video games.

"Gabriel!" Peter cried, his face lighting up as he jumped out of his seat and over the controller cords to embrace his brother. "Hey, guys, this is my brother, Gabriel, who I was telling you about. Gabriel, these are my roommates Scott, Derek, and Brian."

The three boys looked Gabriel up and down. "You don't look alike," Derek scoffed.

"Fraternal twins," Gabriel mumbled, basking in the warmth of his brother's arm wrapped around him again. He suddenly felt better.

"Wanna play?" Brian handed a control to Gabriel.

"Um, we were never allowed to play video games at home. I don't really know how," he admitted.

Gabriel was astonished to see Peter redden and mumble, "Shhh, what'd you have to say that for?" And then louder he added, "Well, we're in college now. We can do whatever we want."

"Yeah!" the rest of them heartily agreed.

They were playing some sort of four-person James Bond game on Nintendo 64---lots of shooting and blood. Peter sat the next round out in order to let his brother play. It didn't take Gabriel long to figure out how things worked, and soon, he was calmly and coolly destroying all of their players without much effort, and in the most violent and score-accumulating ways possible.

Finally, when the game ended, Brian grumbled, "I thought you'd never played a video game before."

Gabriel shrugged proudly. "Killer instincts, I guess."

"Hustler," Scott complained, and glared at him angrily. Gabriel thought he would have gained points with the roommates by gaining points in the game, but apparently not. The five of them went to lunch shortly afterwards, and much as Peter tried to include him in the conversation, it was clear that the three of them had little interest in Peter shy, awkward brother who seemed to lie about his prowess in video games.

However, they _loved_ Peter. Everyone did, and always had. Peter always knew just the right thing to say, had just the right crooked smile to flash in order to put everyone at ease. Gabriel had always been more reserved, more sensitive. He was used to Peter being the popular one and didn't mind; in fact, it always made him happy to see Peter surrounded by admirers, as he should be. Gabriel had always had a few of his own friends, but much as Peter always tried to show his brother off, Gabriel had come to enjoy his role as quiet observer. And so he did now, watching Peter charm these guys whom Gabriel would never have thought Peter would ever be friends with. Peter could charm anyone.

However, Gabriel felt even more out of place than usual once the conversation devolved into crude jokes about the girls who lived down their hallway and Gabriel felt a foot nudge his own. He looked up to find Peter winking at him lovingly, and smiled back at him. For a moment, it was as if no one else was around.

"So, how's your roommate?" Peter asked.

"He hasn't shown up yet. So I was thinking, if you want to come by…"

Peter's eyes darted to the side to look nervously at his new friends. "Yeah, I'd like that," he whispered back hotly. Then he cleared his throat and became 'serious' again. "We were going up to your part of campus tomorrow night anyway. There's supposed to be a party in some sophomore's room that is going to be epic. I'll stop by before dinner, and then we can eat together before swinging over to the party?"

Gabriel was miffed that his hint hadn't been directly addressed; he had little interest in the party, but he hoped that Peter's agreement to spending some time alone with him in his room had been tacit and unspoken only because other people were around. "Yeah. Stop by whenever. I'll be there."

They all went to the 2pm orientation session for the day to learn about all about the different academic options open to them for the next four years. Gabriel wanted to listen, but had trouble hearing over the disrespectful racket Peter's friends near him were making. Much to his dismay, Peter didn't seem to mind.

Gabriel waited for Peter for most of the next day. It was almost 7:30 when he finally showed up. Gabriel jumped out of his chair by the window, where he had been reading the course guide to pass the time. He pulled down the blind and ran to shut the door behind Peter.

In an instant, his mouth was on his brother's, kissing Peter softly, his chapped lips stealing the grease from Peter's lubricated ones. Peter kissed back hesitantly at first, but then warming into it and letting his hands slide up and down his brother's back.

"Finally," Gabriel sighed, burying his nose in Peter's neck and smelling that essential Peter smell that he'd missed in the past 48 hours, hell, all summer. After the enormity of what they'd done on graduation night, it had almost killed Gabriel to immediately go three months with nothing at all, no repetition to make it real.

"Here, sit," Gabriel beckoned between kisses, and pulled Peter towards the bed. They sank into it, and Gabriel gently pushed his brother down onto the mattress, hovering possessively above him. For the first time since they'd gotten in the car to come to this country-club-like horror, Gabriel felt at home. This was where he belonged, wrapped in Peter's arms, his tongue teasing between Peter's lips. "Missed you. Missed this," he whispered.

"You, too," Peter responded, finally letting go and swinging his feet up onto the bed. Gabriel trapped Peter's legs underneath his own and entwined them so that they really felt as one swirling writhing body. Stretched on the bed, they rubbed against one another frantically, kissing until they were breathless and all of Peter's chapstick had disappeared. Gabriel's glasses began to slide down his nose, so he took his hand out from underneath Peter's body to take them off, but Peter stopped him.

"What?" he asked, playfully growling into his brother's ear.

Peter's kisses and touches slowed. "We don't have time to get too into it. The guys are waiting for us in the dining hall, and it'll be weird if we don't come down soon."

"Who cares?" Gabriel breezily asked, and tried to push Peter's shoe off with his own bare foot, but Peter gently but firmly pushed him away and sat up.

"I do. I'm kind of hungry," he said hollowly.

Gabriel finally took the hint and disentangled himself from Peter. Sitting up, he said, "I thought… I thought you were coming up here for _me_."

Peter rubbed the back of his head and tried to rearrange the clothes that Gabriel had mussed. "I did. Of course. But we've got to eat. And the party is supposed to start at 8:30."

"But I don't want to go to the party. I want to be with you," Gabriel whined. He knew he sounded spoiled and pathetic, but he'd seen so little of Peter since he'd gotten home from the summer, and it was already driving him crazy.

Peter pulled Gabriel close, but it didn't feel like enough. "You _will_ be with me. We'll be there together."

"Not like this," Gabriel said, and ran a suggestive finger down his brother's shirt. Peter watched the finger, but remained tense.

"No, not like this," he said thoughtfully. "But it'll still be fun. And we can continue this again soon. _Real soon._" Finally, Gabriel was reassured by that smile---the smile Peter only used with him, when they were alone. Peter leaned over and kissed Gabriel again in a way that became hungrier and hungrier until Peter finally pulled away again suddenly, looking flustered. The two boys rearranged themselves and went downstairs and across the courtyard to the dining hall. They took trays and loaded them up with the day's slop.

"Hey, Pete! Over here!" Scott called, spotting them across the room. Gabriel was terrified to see how many people were already sitting with them. Peter's three roommates, plus a gaggle of swooning girls, and more huge jocks. The two brothers sat down, and Gabriel was surprised to realize that Peter already knew all fifteen or so people at the table, because he was able to introduce him, one by one, to all of them. The ones Gabriel didn't know where Derek's lacrosse team buddies, and the girls were a bunch of cross-country runners. Gabriel and Peter were the only non-athletes at the table, something he took comfort in until Brian leaned towards them.

"So Pete, are you going to try out for crew with us this week? You'd be good on the lightweight team."

Gabriel waited for Peter to laugh and say he had better things to do that row back and forth all day long, but instead he replied, "Yeah, sounds cool. What time?"

"What are you doing?" Gabriel asked under his breath. "You hate sports."

"No I don't," Peter retorted. "Anyway, it's a good way to get to know people. You should do it, too."

"No, thanks."

Peter gripped Gabriel's arm pleadingly, finally showing the kind of need for him that Gabriel had missed all summer. "Please? For me? Hey, and that way we can spend loads more time together. All through practice every day."

"I'll think about it," Gabriel grudgingly replied. But he knew he would do it. For Peter.

After a long, loud, and painful dinner, they finally stumbled out of the dining hall and over to the sophomore party, which was being held in the dorm next to Gabriel's. There were hardly any freshmen there, not that Gabriel knew many to begin with. He wondered how Peter and his friends already knew most of these people, but then it became clear that they were upperclassmen on the same sports teams. Beer flowed liberally, and soon the entire common room was a sloshy mess of sweaty bodies and hazy-eyed women whom Gabriel longed to tell to get away from the gross guys chatting them up. But they actually seemed to _want_ the attention.

It wasn't much fun. Gabriel remembered Nathan's advice about building his tolerance, so he drank two beers, but he didn't particularly enjoy the taste, and just started to feel sleepy and sluggish. Peter sometimes stood by him and sometimes wandered off to meet people, always polite, always warm. Gabriel spotted at least four girls eyeing Peter and tittering to their friends. He felt proud that his brother was so desirable, and even prouder to know that _he_ was the one Peter wanted. He actually felt bad for them, knowing that caring as Peter seemed (and genuinely was), none of these chicks stood a chance.

Finally, however, Gabriel couldn't take much more of the party. It had quickly devolved into a riotous mess, and when some guy finally started taking all his clothes off in a drunken display of machismo, Gabriel knew it was time to leave.

He walked over to Peter, who was talking animatedly with two pretty blondes, who, as Gabriel realized upon drawing closer, were identical.

"Hey, you! Meet Niki and Jessica. This is my brother, Gabriel. We're twins, too!"

The two girls looked Gabriel up and down with displeased eyebrows. "Yeah, hi." And then they turned back to smile at Peter.

Gabriel was too tired for this. "I think I'm going to go now." The 'are you coming, too?' was implied.

"Really? But things are just getting started. I'm going to stick around for awhile longer."

Gabriel was too disappointed and shocked to argue further. "I'm done. Come by later if you want."

He went back to his room, tired and dehydrated and grumpy. He told himself to go to sleep, but the faint hope that Peter would knock on the door to come stay over kept him awake until the wee hours. They hadn't been allowed to sleep together in the same bed since they were little---definitely way before they'd started this secret thing that existed between them. Why didn't Peter want to take advantage of their new freedom? Instead, Gabriel thought to himself bitterly, he was more interested in the freedom to stay out all night and play video games and talk to bitchy-looking blondes. Before falling asleep, Gabriel had made a little resolution to no longer chase Peter around. If he wanted to hang out, Peter would have to call _him_.


	2. Chapter 2

Gabriel's dark thoughts kept him up so late that he was tired and groggy the next day and practically missed his meeting with his academic advisor to pick courses. In his sleepy, grumpy state, he made less than a good impression; it also didn't help that he was apathetic about what he wanted to study for the next four years. Gabriel spent yet another lonely day buying books and running various start-of-school errands, stopping for lunch alone at the dining hall with an optimistic spirit that it wouldn't be so bad this time only to be proven wrong yet again. He looked at everyone else; they all seemed to travel in packs of like-looking people---skinny girls with identical haircuts and short skirts, too-cool-for-school Brazilian kids, drawling blonde Southerners. He couldn't really tell what kind of group he should be in.

Gabriel wondered why it had always been so hard for him to make friends. He had never been good at small talk, and the constant stream of meeting people meant that no one ever engaged in a conversation that went beyond the superficial. After an entire day of running around, he decided that he couldn't face it for another second and skipped dinner in favor of a long walk to explore the campus; he couldn't bear the idea of either another banal meal with strangers or of eating by himself in a cathedral full of hundreds of other people.

When he got back to his room, something was different. There were a few gigantic bags in the middle of the floor that didn't belong to him. Only one had been opened, and the few things that appeared to be unpacked so far were a hideous set of sheets on the other bed, a few strangely colored clothes hung in the closet, and weird-looking food crowding his snacks on the shelf Nathan had built. But the person to whom all these things belonged was nowhere to be seen.

"Great," Gabriel sighed to himself as he plopped in front of his computer. "Peter gets to room with the most popular guys at school, and I get some weirdo foreigner who probably doesn't even speak English. Just my luck." He checked his email and was gratified to see that Peter had sent a short note expressing regret at not having seen his brother all day, and reminding him that crew tryouts were the next day and to meet him at three at the boathouse. Gabriel sighed; he wanted to see his brother, but he didn't particularly relish the activity. However, he'd do it. Peter had asked him to, and Gabriel was a pushover, especially where Peter was concerned.

A minute later, the door opened and Gabriel jumped up. A boy walked in and froze when he saw Gabriel.

"Oh! You're back," he exclaimed, and as soon as he started speaking, Gabriel was hit with an accent that sounded like something out of a movie. "Hello, I'm Mohinder, your long-lost roommate," the boy said with a self-conscious smile.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Mohinder." They shook hands until Gabriel realized that he was shaking for too long, and finally pulled his hand back with a blush.

Gabriel had never seen anyone who looked like Mohinder, and having grown up in New York City, that was saying a lot. It wasn't that he was odd-looking; it was more that Gabriel didn't think humans could look like that. Mohinder was skinny and not particularly tall---about Peter's height---but he had the most perfect face Gabriel had ever seen, with deep, wide brown eyes topped by floppy curls.

Gabriel wasn't sure if this was better or worse than the weirdo foreigner who didn't speak English, because now _he_ was the one who found himself incapable of speaking English. It took him three tries before he finally was able to spit out, "When did you get here?"

"Two hours ago. I managed to get to the housing office before they closed at six, and came here straightaway. I only just started to unpack, but I wasn't sure what to do, because I don't want to impede on the way you've set things up."

"Put your stuff wherever you want. I don't care. What took you so long to come? Orientation is almost over. You've missed out," Gabriel pressed, but as soon as he'd said it, he knew it was untrue. What, exactly, had Mohinder missed out on? Not much, by Gabriel's standards.

Mohinder bent down to take more things out of his bag and place them on his bed, so Gabriel couldn't see his face as he flippantly replied, "The tickets from India were exorbitantly expensive until last night's flight, and my father didn't see why he should pay more to have me here for orientation, which he said didn't really count as school."

That sounded terribly mean, but Mohinder seemed relatively unbothered by it. "Oh. What hotel are they staying in?" Gabriel asked, assuming that everyone's parents helped them move in.

"They didn't come. My father is very busy, and he couldn't spare my mother. It's just me and these three enormous suitcases."

Gabriel had felt disadvantaged about only having Nathan to take care of him on the first day, and he couldn't imagine how Mohinder could manage to be so stoic about being completely alone like this. He felt a rush of understanding for this stranger. In that moment, he decided to be Mohinder's Nathan.

"Hey, have you eaten dinner yet?" he asked.

Mohinder shook his head. "By the time I finally got these bags here, it was almost closing time at the dining hall."

"Wanna have dinner with me? I missed it, too. It'll be my treat. And then tomorrow I can help you unpack and stuff. We can set up the room together."

"I'd like that very much. That's very kind of you." Mohinder smiled, and Gabriel became worried; he didn't know how he was going to live with this guy and those smiles for a whole year. Mohinder wasn't good-looking in that obvious and homogenous way that all the other 'hot' guys at school were---he wasn't like Peter's beefy roommates, or even like Peter. Living with someone this overwhelmingly perfect-looking might actually be almost worse than having some weirdo foreigner who would bring down his already abysmal coolness factor; Gabriel was sure he'd feel like even more of an afterthought walking around with this guy.

Nonetheless, Gabriel got up and went to the drawer in which he kept Nathan's money. Shoving the envelope into his pocket, he said, "I could use a break from bad food, too, so it isn't just for you. Come on, let's go."

They lived in the dorm closest to town, and so didn't have far to walk. Gabriel kept his hands in his pockets and secretly studied Mohinder through sidelong glances that the other boy didn't notice, so busy was he taking in everything they passed. Picking up on this, Gabriel asked, "So, is this your first time in the US?"

"Yes, my first time actually walking on the streets, to be honest. A shuttle bus took me directly from the airport to the campus. It's so… quiet. I'm used to streets being a lot more bustling than this."

Gabriel laughed. "Yeah, it's pretty boring here. Sleepy."

"Where are you from?" Gabriel had been asked this a million times in the past week, but for the first time, he didn't mind the question, because Mohinder seemed actually interested in the answer.

"New York City," he replied with a humble, self-effacing shrug, the same self-effacing shrug he'd been using when people that summer had asked where he was going to college. "It's lots bigger than this town, obviously."

Mohinder's eyes grew round. "Wow. New York. I've always wanted to visit there."

"We'll go together one day and I'll show you around." The words tripped out of Gabriel's mouth before he had actually formed the thought in his mind. He blushed, suddenly nervous that he was being _too_ friendly and that Mohinder wasn't as keen to get to know him as Gabriel was.

However, his nerves---well, the ones directly associated with that particular worry, at least---were calmed somewhat by yet another one of Mohinder's warm smiles. "I can't wait."

"How's Italian? I've heard that that one is pretty good," Gabriel said, pointing at a restaurant down the street.

"I'd like that. Just about anything sounds delicious right now."

Given that it was late on a Thursday evening, the hostess was able to seat them right away. Looking over his tall menu across the booth, Gabriel noticed that Mohinder was looking slightly green and staring distractedly off into the distance. "Is everything okay?"

Mohinder nodded tiredly. "Yes. I just saw the other table's food arrive and realized how hungry I really am. I also haven't slept in… in more hours than I care to count. I'm sorry. You're being so kind and I should try to act like a civilized human for you." To prove his determination, he straightened his shoulders and threw his head back in a way that said, 'You now have my undivided attention'. The bright gaze that accompanied it made Gabriel tongue-tied and unable to think of anything worth saying to warrant Mohinder's effort. He felt like a complete idiot; Peter and his roommates had become friends in no time. Why was Gabriel having such a hard time feeling comfortable with his? He worried that he was freaking Mohinder out with all the open-mouthed staring, or worse, that Mohinder thought he was retarded.

Luckily, the waitress came to take their orders, relieving Gabriel of the necessity of having to speak. When she'd gone again, Mohinder leaned forward and asked, "So what happened this week? What have I missed? What is it like here?"

Gabriel took a deep breath, trying to remember all the things that had happened. As he started to relate to Mohinder stories about orientation and assemblies and meetings, he found himself feeling more positive about the experience than he had so far. Telling stories like this that were about something other than himself, and in which he could actually _talk_, not just answer questions, made him feel more comfortable and actually more interesting than answering boring questions about himself all week had. It felt good to unload, and without complaining too much, to get his frustrations off his chest.

"So I've missed the pre-med meeting, haven't I?" Mohinder asked at one junction. When Gabriel unintentionally sighed, Mohinder suspiciously asked, "What?"

"Nothing," Gabriel answered unconvincingly.

"No, it isn't nothing. What is wrong?" Mohinder pressed.

"It's just that, well, the pre-meds I've met so far have kinda sucked. Sorry. I mean, I don't think _you_ suck, not at all. So, I was surprised you're pre-med, too. Sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."

Mohinder laughed, and Gabriel was relieved to see that he wasn't offended. He seemed merely curious. "In what ways do they… suck?" There were two questions in that, one of which was an implicit confusion about the idiom.

Gabriel was tongue-tied again and hated himself for having put his foot up his ass with the first person in the whole damn school who had so far actually been nice to him. "I don't know… they're just… I've eaten dinner with some of them in the dining hall a couple of times. They're all really intense and competitive and passive-aggressive and think anyone who isn't also a pre-med is stupid or a slacker or something. But you don't seem like that," he reiterated, trying to still dig himself out of the hole.

Mohinder thought about this. "I see. Well, I promise not to be like that."

Hastily, Gabriel added, "No, don't worry. I didn't mean it like that. Be however you want to be." He cleared his throat and then followed up with, "So, er, you want to be a doctor, huh?"

Mohinder got a driven, far-away look in his eyes that was somewhat like the annoying pre-meds, but which was also different in a way. Loftier. "Yes and no. I want to be a scientist, but do medical research. I don't intend to go to medical school, but in order to get into the graduate programs, it helps to take the courses that all the would-be doctors will take."

"Oh. I get it. That's alright, then. That's pretty cool. Like curing cancer and stuff?" Gabriel was impressed. He had no passions like that, and even less confidence that he could do anything that serious. He coudlnn't even see how he was going to survive college, much less think about graduate school.

Mohinder nodded. "Yes, that sort of thing, although I'd like to work with rarer diseases. I had a sister who died before I was born of a disease that no one could treat. I'd like to keep other children from suffering her fate." And then under his breath, he added, "It's the least I can do."

"Huh?" Gabriel asked, but Mohinder shook his head. There was something odd about his reaction, for the second time that evening. Gabriel had the feeling that there was something weird about Mohinder's family life---not that Gabriel had any leg to stand on to judge anyone else's family life.

"Nothing. So, what do you want to do?" Then Mohinder paused and looked sheepish. "I'm sure you've been asked this a lot, and you're probably tired of it. I'm sorry."

"No, it's alright. I don't mind you asking," Gabriel said, and he meant it, although he still adored Mohinder for recognizing the concept that the usual topics of chit-chat were repetitive. "I don't really know yet, and it's scary because everyone else seems to. I guess I have to major in Politics or International Relations."

"Have to?" Mohinder asked quizzically.

"Those are good majors for getting into law school. Everyone in my family is a lawyer---my granddad, my dad, my big brother Nathan."

"But is that what you want to do?"

Gabriel shrugged. "I don't really know what I want to do.

"You really have no idea?" The obviously driven Mohinder seemed to think that this was completely unheard-of. _Wait until he meets all the other people in the dining halls_ Gabriel thought ruefully.

"Well…" Gabriel had never actually told anyone this, but Mohinder was so nice, and he'd been so lonely that he decided to open up. "I think it would be kind of cool to do mechanical engineering. I like making things and fixing thing and figuring out how the parts all go together," he confessed.

"So why don't you do that?" Mohinder asked. His accent made the question sound snottier than Gabriel could tell Mohinder actually meant it.

"You had to apply before, like when we applied to Princeton, you know?" Mohinder nodded, remembering the special essays on the application for the School of Engineering. "And I don't think my family would like it."

Mohinder furrowed his brow. "That's odd. Most parents seem proud to have children who are engineers. It's very difficult, too."

"Not mine. They want me to be a lawyer, and in order to get into law school, it's best to major in stuff like Politics or International Relations. I think Philosophy would work, too, so I'm going to try that out. It sounds like the most interesting route." Gabriel pursed his lips, feeling just as apathetic as he had when he'd been speaking with his advisor earlier that day. "Plus, I didn't apply for it, so it's too late."

"Nonsense," Mohinder admonished loftily. "If you sign up for a lot of classes this semester and work hard and do well, I'm sure you can apply after the fact and the professors will vouch for you. It will be a lot of work, but you can do it. Plus," he added eagerly, "I'll be studying a lot for my pre-med classes, and the two of us can study hard together."

"That would be nice," Gabriel said, and felt warm inside. "But I don't know. I think my parents would think I'm even more of a loser. Plus, Peter's going to do the same thing, too, and it'll be great to be in the same major as him."

"Who is Peter?"

Gabriel was shocked at himself to realize that this was the longest he'd ever gone in a conversation with someone without telling him or her that he had a twin brother, and that this twin was the greatest person in the entire world. But it had been so nice to have Mohinder seem so quietly interested in _him_ that he hadn't noticed until now.

"He's my twin brother. He lives over in Butler. You should come down there with me tomorrow. We're having dinner together, most likely, and you can meet him. He's awesome."

"It's good that you told me you have a twin, in case I run into another you tomorrow and start treating a complete stranger like my new best friend," Mohinder joked.

Even though he thrilled inside to hear it, Gabriel rushed to correct him. "Oh no, we're fraternal twins---we don't look anything alike. He's the good-looking twin," Gabriel admitted, and, in another first, was struck with panic that Mohinder might meet Peter and cease to be interested in being _his_ friend. Gabriel had always been happy to let Peter be adored before, but somehow, after this week of misery, he felt that he finally had someone who was _his_, and he was loath to lose Mohinder.

"I'm sure that isn't true," Mohinder said kindly, but it didn't help Gabriel's mysterious feeling of defeat.

"You'll see," he said sadly.

Mohinder changed the subject after that and they while they ate they spoke of other things, of India and New York City and medical research and private school and the tribulations of being skinny and nerdy. Gabriel finally understood what Peter was going through with his jock roommates, the excitement of being thrown together with someone really different but who also clicked. The desire to blush and stare still remained, but, if only to make Gabriel feel even more awkward about his own charms, it turned out that Mohinder was also really smart and interesting, in addition to being ridiculously perfect-looking. He seemed to genuinely like talking to Gabriel, which was almost unbelievable.

Two hours later, they got the check. Mohinder reached into his pocket, but Gabriel put his hand up to stop him. "No, really. I meant it when I said it's on me," he said, and pulled out the envelope of cash. He peered into it and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. When he looked up, he found Mohinder staring at him, aghast.

"Gabriel… Are… are you a drug dealer?" he asked, his eyes round and widened with horror.

"What?" Gabriel asked, flustered, and then looked down at the envelope and understood. Laughingly, he replied, "No. This is just money by brother Nathan gave me as a present. To take girls out on dates with and stuff."

There was a pause, and then Mohinder asked slowly, "How many dates have you been on so far?"

"None. I'm not really… I mean, this is the first time I've used it. And this isn't really a date, is it?" Gabriel replied, but thought to himself that it was definitely the closest he'd ever been to being on a date, and it was pathetic, because Mohinder was his _roommate_, dammit. He panicked once more that maybe he was freaking Mohinder.

But Mohinder looked away as he said, "No, it isn't, is it? But thank you very much. I had a really nice time."

After that, they were awkward for the entire walk home, and only started talking again once they got back to the room and Gabriel offered to help Mohinder unpack a few more of his belongings and made an effort to move his things around in order to accommodate Mohinder's possessions.

"I'm exhausted. Would it be alright with you if we just went to sleep now?" Mohinder asked politely. "I think it was the conversation alone that kept me awake through dinner."

"Yeah. Yeah, sure," Gabriel said, and immediately felt bad for being so excited to have Mohinder with him that he'd forgotten how many hours the guy had already been awake for.

They brushed their teeth and went through the rest of their nightly rituals together. Gabriel watched his roommate out of the corner of his eye and made a mental note to spend more time on his dental hygiene. Mohinder was _dedicated_. In a few minutes, they were both sprawled on their respective beds in the dark.

"Goodnight, Gabriel," Mohinder said sleepily.

"Night. I'm… I'm really glad you came today," Gabriel replied. "And I'm glad you don't suck. You're alright."

"So are you. More than alright," was the mumbled response. Gabriel beamed in the darkness.


End file.
